Financial stocks remained popular on a day that saw a new administration take over the executive branch, and that kept the Financial Sector Select SPDR ETF among the most heavily traded exchange-traded funds. Meanwhile, gold price volatility swung in the positive direction for owners of the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X ETF Procter & Gamble shares gained 3% following the release of surprisingly strong quarterly earnings results.
Month: January 2017
U.S. bankruptcy court judge OKs $425 million for Avaya loan
A U.S. bankruptcy court judge granted Avaya Inc approval on Friday to tap $425 million of the $725 million loan proposed to carry the telecommunications company through its restructuring, funds the company said were essential to continue operations. Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday to cut its debt of about $6 billion after efforts to sell its call center business and reach a consensual deal with creditors failed.
Union Pacific Corporation Earnings Rise as Cost Cuts Offset Lower Freight Shipments
Business volumes, as measured by total revenue carloads, declined 3% year over year. The decline was broad-based, with Union Pacific seeing lower volumes in nearly all of its operating segments, including coal , industrial , chemicals , automotive , and intermodal .
Oil Prices Jump Ahead of Producers’ Compliance Meeting
Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Friday on expectations that a weekend meeting of the world’s top oil producers would demonstrate compliance to a global output cut deal, but rising U.S. drilling activity limited gains. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some other producing countries including Russia, will meet in Vienna to establish a mechanism to verify compliance with a deal to cut output 1.8 million barrels per day , OPEC’s secretary general told Reuters.
Mexican Peso Rallies After Trump Speech
The Mexican peso rallied after President Trump’s inauguration speech didn’t specifically mention Mexico. The country was a frequent target of criticism by Trump, who had pledged to build a wall along the U.S. southern border.
How Home Depot Inc. Has Changed in the Last 5 Years
Shares tripled, compared to a 160% jump for Lowe’s Yet the home improvement giant is a different company than it was back in early 2012. Below, I’ll highlight the key changes that could impact investors the most going forward.
Gold Futures Gain 0.7% For The Week
Gold futures climbed Friday as weakness in the U.S. dollar and uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency helped to lift prices by roughly 0.7% for the week. February gold rose $3.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,204.90 an ounce.
Check Point Software Gives a Good Outlook for the Network Security Sector
Given Check Point’s status as the established leader — with non-GAAP operating income margin of 55% to protect — it would have been natural for investors to be a bit fearful. But when the report was released on Thursday, earnings came in ahead of expectations.
Baker Hughes Data Show Sharp Rise In U.S. Oil-rig Count
Data from Baker Hughes Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil jumped higher by 29 to 551 rigs this week. The oil rig count had edged lower last week, but rose in each of the 10 previous weeks.
Will 2017 Be Welltower’s Best Year Yet?
Despite the bumpy road for the stock price, Welltower’s business continues to do well and the company recently made some smart moves to set itself up for future growth. After the underperformance of 2016, can investors expect a big rebound in 2017? Welltower’s stock price was all over the place in 2016.
How Trump’s inaugural address compares to his predecessors, charted
Take a look at the chart above. It’s what Donald Trump’s inaugural address looks like to a computer algorithm that measures sentiment — that is, the positive or negative emotions associated with words of a speech, or a book, or of any body of text.
Animal treatment questions cancel a A Doga s Purposea premiere
This weekend’s premiere of “A Dog’s Purpose” has been canceled following the release of a video that appears to show a frightened dog being forced into churning water during production of the film. TMZ published a video Wednesday that shows a man struggling to put a dog into a pool of rushing water while the dog fights to stay out.
How to Prep (or Not) for Trump’s Proposed Tax Changes
Now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as president, changes might be on the way for the tax code. But it’s unclear what will change and how much.
As Tax Season Approaches, So Do Scammers
Last summer, Cindy Hockenberry decided she’d had it with threatening phone calls claiming she was behind on her taxes. Sometimes the calls were automated.
Friday’s ETF with Unusual Volume: KBWR
The PowerShares KBW Regional Banking Portfolio ETF is seeing unusually high volume in afternoon trading Friday, with over 296,000 shares traded versus three month average volume of about 77,000. Shares of KBWR were up about 0.5% on the day.
Friday’s ETF Movers: SOXX, XBI
In trading on Friday, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF is outperforming other ETFs, up about 1.5% on the day. Components of that ETF showing particular strength include shares of Skyworks Solutions , up about 12.9% and shares of Cirrus Logic , up about 5.4% on the day.
Friday Sector Laggards: Biotechnology, Aerospace & Defense Stocks
In trading on Friday, biotechnology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Pluristem Therapeutics , down about 22.1% and shares of Puma Biotechnology down about 6.9% on the day.
Friday Sector Leaders: Shipping, Agriculture & Farm Products
In trading on Friday, shipping shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 3.4%. Leading the group were shares of Navios Maritime Holdings , up about 13.5% and shares of Star Bulk Carriers up about 10.1% on the day.
Trump Aides Said to Prepare List of Early Energy Changes
Donald Trump’s advisers have prepared a short list of energy and environmental policy changes he can take now that he has been sworn in as president, including steps to limit the role that climate change plays in government decisions and speed the review of cross-border pipelines. The list of actions Trump can take imminently includes nullifying President guidelines that federal agencies weigh climate change when approving pipelines, deciding what areas to open for drilling or taking other major actions, two people familiar with Trump’s transition planning say.
Trump Appeals to ‘America First,’ Economic Populism at Inauguration
Donald Trump invoked the economic populist message that carried him to the White House during his inaugural address, telling the crowd, “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.” “We the citizens of America are now joined a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people,” he said.
Carnival Signs Contracts for Two New Cruise Ships
Carnival announced that two new ships are under construction, one of which will be added to its Princess Cruises brand and will feature the Ocean Medallion technology. Carnival is building two new ships to be delivered in 2021 and 2022, one of which will be added to the Princess Cruises line and will feature the company’s new Ocean Medallion technology.
Top Quotes from Trump’s Speech That May Have Spooked Investors
During now President Trump’s notably short inauguration speech, stock markets went down . Slightly after noon when Trump began talking, the S&P 500 fell to session lows.
Procter & Gamble Is ‘The Star of the Morning’: More Squawk From Jim Cramer
Shares of Procter & Gamble were higher in early afternoon trading on Friday after reporting a top and bottom line beat this morning for its 2017 second quarter. “The best earnings report that we got this morning is from Procter & Gamble,” TheStreet’s Jim Cramer said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday morning.
With Nintendo’s Switch Game Console, New Ideas Create New Experiences
Even in the era of Super Mario Run , Nintendo is serious about pursuing its own vision and building its own hardware. Here’s why.
How One Man Made McDonald’s America’s Most Well-Known Fast Food Chain In “The Founder”
John Lee Hancock’s latest film “The Founder” tells the story of how McDonald’s grew from one location to a pillar of modern day capitalism.
How This CEO Got Caught Up In the Clinton Email Scandal
Months after the election, we still don’t know for sure what happened to all of Hillary Clinton’s emails, the ones that passed through her private email server, a question that remains unresolved and continues to infuriate some of President-elect Donald Trump’s die-hard supporters. But one clue to unraveling the mystery may lie with a low-key tech company based in southwestern Connecticut and its 31-year-old freckle-faced CEO, who handed over up to 17,448 deleted Clinton emails to the FBI.
Hold The Storefront: How Delivery-Only “Ghost” Restaurants Are Changing Takeout
“Ghost restaurants” with no physical location are popping up across the country. Can a restaurant succeed if it’s delivery-only? Hungry New Yorkers ordering meals through such online services as Seamless or Eat24 order everything from sushi to burgers to tacos.
AT&T Added More Than 200,000 Video Subs in Fourth Quarter, “Entirely Driven by DirecTV Now”
Telecom giant AT&T, which has agreed to acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion, said in a regulatory filing on Friday that it will report “more than 200,000 video net adds” for its fourth quarter, with the figure being “entirely driven by DirecTV Now.” The company launched the streaming video service at the end of November and previously only said that its fourth-quarter earnings report would shed some light on the early subscriber performance.
HSBC Said to Begin Cutting About 100 Investment Banking Jobs
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank, has begun cutting about 100 senior investment-banking jobs, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The cuts are at the managing-director and director level, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
AIG to Pay Berkshire $9.8 Billion in Insurance Transfer Deal
American International Group Inc. agreed to pay $9.8 billion to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to take on long-term risks from commercial policies written in prior years. The reinsurance deal covers 80 percent of the risks on certain U.S. policies from 2015 and earlier, representing reserves of about $34 billion as of Jan. 1, 2016, New York-based AIG said Friday in a statement.
Draghi’s Role in Elite Finance Group Comes Under EU Scrutiny
The European Union ombudsman has opened an inquiry into European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s involvement with an elite group of economic leaders. The investigation will consider Draghi’s membership of the Group of 30, a forum of finance executives, academics and policy makers including Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Warburg Pincus LLC President Tim Geithner, Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam, and former ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet.
After a 48% Run, Dover Stock Could Rise by 15% More
In the latest one-year period, shares of industrial manufacturer Dover are up a staggering 48%. Last week Dover invited investors to dinner in New York.
Investor Optimism Reigns Ahead of Trump Inauguration
In fact, fifty-seven percent of investors are now optimistic about economic growth – up from 45 percent in the third quarter – while only 27 percent are pessimistic, down from 35%, according to new Wells Fargo research. “The primary reason that investors have become more positive and the market has rallied since the election is that the two biggest unknowns for 2016 were eliminated in the last quarter of the year,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
Dollar General Seen Suffering From Rising Wage Pressures, Competition
Dollar General faces rising wage pressures and mounting competition to open new locations, and that has prompted analysts to revisit their earnings assumptions for the discount retailer. BMO Capital Markets this week reduced its earnings forecasts for 2017 to $4.70 a share from the prior $4.85, bringing what had been among the higher projections on the Street more in line with analysts’ consensus.
Troubled DirecTV Now Might Not Boost Earnings at AT&T, After All
The company’s entrant in the online streaming service sector has been fraught with problems and is making customers unhappy. Plagued by billing issues , frequent interruptions and missing features since the Nov. 30 launch , DirecTV Now’s operational glitches might disappoint analysts who expected the streaming service to be a big earnings driver for AT&T.
T-Mobile US Is One of Our Best Recommendations of the Past Year
We were very bullish on TMUS on Jan. 6 , when we concluded, “This chart shows a very large multi-year base pattern. Point and Figure charts ignore time , but this one gives a long-term price target of $104, not quite a double from current levels.
Stubborn IBM Refuses to Pull Back, So Look for Upside
With 2017 just getting started Big Blue has to balance some less-than-bullish signals on the daily and weekly bar charts with an upside breakout on the Point and Figure chart. Watson would know what to do in this situation.
A Confused Asia Braces for Life Under Trump
The ascendance of Donald Trump to the U.S. throne leaves many people in Asia nonplussed. The election campaign saw him rail against China and Japan for stealing U.S. jobs and promise to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, as well as slapping 45% tariffs on Chinese imports.
U.S. bankers tell Europeans to think positively on Trump
U.S. bankers, buoyed by a resurgence in profits, are advising their counterparts in Europe to think positively about the new administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. At the annual gathering of the world’s political and business elites in the Swiss resort of Davos, U.S. financiers told investors and overseas’ rivals to focus less on Trump’s anti-globalization rhetoric and more on his cabinet picks, comprising of Wall Street veterans and corporate bosses.
Short-Term Rally in Global Markets Boosts Optimism Towards Equities
By Scott Kubie, CFA, CLS Investments Chief Strategist The recent short-term rally in global stock markets has boosted optimism towards equity investments. While always glad to see our clients benefiting from market increases, CLS portfolio managers continue to keep a vigilant eye on market risk.